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Bush to Present 'Clear Strategy' on Iraq (tonight's speech)
AP via Yahoo! ^ | DEB RIECHMANN, Associated Press Writer

Posted on 05/24/2004 11:31:40 AM PDT by dead

WASHINGTON - Facing political discord over the war in Iraq, President Bush tries to reassure voters Monday that hundreds of Americans have not died in vain, and to tell the world he has a blueprint to create a democratic nation.

Five months before the U.S. election and just five weeks before the June 30 hand-off of political power in Iraq, Bush travels late Monday to the Army War College in Carlisle, Pa., to give the first in a series of speeches about the future of Iraq. Bush will give a televised speech tonight.

Earlier in the day, the United States and Britain presented a new U.N. resolution that would transfer "governing authority" in Iraq to a sovereign interim government by June 30 and authorize a multinational force to maintain peace with Iraqi consent.

Meanwhile, a roadside bomb in Baghdad destroyed a civilian car with armor plating near an entrance to the headquarters of the U.S.-led coalition, killing two Britons and injuring two other people.

Worldwide attention is focused on the transfer of sovereignty next month, but the president is expected to lay out a timeline in Iraq that extends until elections are held early next year.

He was to offer a "clear strategy" for getting there, but was not expected to address the question of when American troops will return from Iraq, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Monday.

With an eye on the future, Bush's prime-time speech will address two issues dominating U.S. efforts in Iraq: The creation of a new Iraqi interim government, whose leaders are to be announced within days, and ways to improve security in areas of Iraq still rife with violence.

He will lay out "specific steps we are taking to move forward on the transition toward a free, democratic and and peaceful Iraq," McClellan said. They are:

Bush got a fresh reminder of the challenge of maintaining his coalition on Monday morning when he spoke to President-elect Leonel Fernandez of the Dominican Republic. That country pulled its troops out of Iraq this month.

Bush reviewed drafts of his speech over the weekend while traveling in Texas and Connecticut to attend parties celebrating his daughters' college graduations. He rehearsed the approximately half-hour address Monday in the White House theater.

"He needs to demonstrate an appreciation for the hole we're in," said Ivo Daalder, a foreign policy analyst at the liberal-leaning Brookings Institution. "He shouldn't minimize the problems that we are confronting. He can't give the same speech that everything is going fine and `I'm committed to seeing it through.'"

In his speech, Bush will talk about the new unelected, interim Iraqi government that will guide the country until elections can be held by Jan. 31, 2005. He has lauded the work of U.N. envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, who is hand-picking an Iraqi prime minister, president and two vice presidents who will work with a cabinet of ministers in running day-to-day operations until elections can be held.

It's a pivotal time in Iraq and the president's re-election campaign. Bush's approval ratings have sunk, according to some polls, to the lowest point of his presidency. Skepticism, mixed with fear of moving down an untraveled path in Iraq, is rising among Iraqis and Americans.

As in most cities Bush visits these days, he was welcomed in New Haven, Conn., on Sunday by flag-waving residents as well as anti-war protesters, including one who carried a sign that read "Iraq Vietnam."


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; War on Terror
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To: rs79bm
I mean, leading up to war W was slamming to U.N. pretty good (and rightfully so), and now he wants them to be in charge of the Gov't? This doesn't make any sense to me.

It's called a flip-flop. He must be taking lessons from Kerry.
21 posted on 05/24/2004 12:33:18 PM PDT by newcats
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To: ex-snook

Thanks for proving my point...I said earlier that the press and our own anti-war loonies wouldn't wait for his speech before spouting their pathetic talking points.


22 posted on 05/24/2004 12:35:07 PM PDT by CWOJackson
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To: CurlyBill
As you can see...some have already started. They're even desperate enough to rely on Zinni's arguments.
23 posted on 05/24/2004 12:40:18 PM PDT by CWOJackson
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To: CWOJackson

This thread seems to be filled with "Im a Bush supporter BUT..." - Moby types. I think this will be a turning point in the election, and possibly world history.


24 posted on 05/24/2004 12:41:58 PM PDT by Warren_Piece (Just thinkin' about women and glasses of beer.)
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To: Geist Krieger

According to Shepard Smith on "Studio B", President Bush didn't ask the networks to carry his speech. Shep said that he's been getting emails from angry viewers saying that media bias is why the networks aren't carrying the speech. Shep just laughed it off and said that the big networks wouldn't be showing the President because of ratings, not bias.

I can't stand Shepard Smith. Just another one of Fox's liberal mouthpieces.


25 posted on 05/24/2004 12:43:46 PM PDT by fox0566
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To: Warren_Piece
LOL. Yes, but they are amusing. Some of them are on reason 4,216 why they won't be voting for Bush again. They find a new excuse every week.

Oh, well...I guess the President has lost the support of those who never did support him and never will.

I agree with your take on tonight, but with a minor difference. I believe the turning point was when President Bush sent us into Iraq; against the combined objection by our so-called European allies, the U.N., the left and our own so-called conservative defeatists. I believe tonight will simply be a defining point.

26 posted on 05/24/2004 12:46:17 PM PDT by CWOJackson
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To: CWOJackson
"...I said earlier that the press and our own anti-war loonies

Your reading comprehension is on the level of your limited writing content. I didn't post take the troops out, I wrote put more troops in to win the war. That's not anti-war. It's anti-losing war.

27 posted on 05/24/2004 12:48:59 PM PDT by ex-snook (They had their chance. Dump all incumbents who won't bring back outsourced America.)
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To: newcats
I don't think its fair to say that President Bush didn't try to get the UN on board, he in fact did.

The UN is more responsible for the state of affairs in Iraq presently than anyone, IMO. Had they marshalled the power they possessed with respect to Iraq and WMD, etc. way back when they should have, we would never be there.

President Bush did the world a huge favor in exposing the UN as the flaccid world body organ it is.

Not sure if they're back on board, haven't read anything really expounding on that, but if they are I'm more than a little sick to my stomach about it.

28 posted on 05/24/2004 12:50:22 PM PDT by AlbionGirl ("E meglio lavorare con qui non ti paga, e no ha parlare con qui non ti capisce!")
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To: ex-snook

You mean that now the actual invasion is over and we're already adding more peacekeeping troops. Sorry snooks, you're way behind the times.


29 posted on 05/24/2004 12:54:36 PM PDT by CWOJackson
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To: Geist Krieger

That is SO disgraceful.


30 posted on 05/24/2004 3:00:31 PM PDT by NYC Republican (How can Americans SERIOUSLY consider voting for an ADMITTED WAR CRIMINAL Scum like SKerry???)
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To: Geist Krieger
"Only those with cable and sattelite dishes that can receive cable news will be able to watch the President tonight."

Tonite's speech was worth the price of admission...I'm very pleased with both what Dubyuh had to say and how he said it.

FReegards...MUD

31 posted on 05/24/2004 6:00:51 PM PDT by Mudboy Slim (RE-IMPEACH Osama bil Clinton!!)
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To: dead
Anybody seen the transcript yet?!

Thanks...MUD

32 posted on 05/24/2004 6:10:24 PM PDT by Mudboy Slim (RE-IMPEACH Osama bil Clinton!!)
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To: dead

So, in a nutshell these are his five steps:

There are five steps in our plan to help Iraq achieve democracy and freedom:

The first of these steps will occur next month, when our coalition will transfer full sovereignty to a government of Iraqi citizens who will prepare the way for national elections.(June 30th)


The second step in the plan for Iraqi democracy is to help establish the stability and security that democracy requires.

The third step in the plan for Iraqi democracy is to continue rebuilding that nation's infrastructure so that a free Iraq can quickly gain economic independence and a better quality of life.

The fourth step in our plan is to enlist additional international support for Iraq's transition.


The fifth, and most important step is free national elections, to be held no later than next January.

The above was taken directly from the translation of the speech. I wasn't able to watch him so I read the transcript.

He missed so many golden opportunities to ELABORATE on SUCCESSES that they've already had with these five steps that I feel it was a bomb of a speech.





33 posted on 05/24/2004 6:36:53 PM PDT by nmh (Intelligent people recognize Intelligent Design (God).)
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To: apackof2

#6 Agree completely!


34 posted on 05/24/2004 6:38:04 PM PDT by nmh (Intelligent people recognize Intelligent Design (God).)
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To: dead

The real story is the media blackout.

The same media that airs the prison photos night after night censors the President of the United States, and nobody seems to notice or care.

It doesn't MATTER what he said, since pretty much nobody heard it and it won't be reported in the mainstream press.

Doesn't the President have the power to preempt the networks? I remember reagan had televised addresses that preempted the networks, on more than one occasion.

Or is this part of the "new tone," and the kindler, gentler approach to war?

P.S. The part about tearing down the prison made me want to puke.


35 posted on 05/24/2004 6:45:41 PM PDT by SerpentDove (Feldman. MARTY Feldman.)
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